July 20, 2012

The CharlottesvilleCity Council held a work session Thursday to discuss changes to the process by which nonprofit social service agencies are funded.

A breakdown of this year's funding as recommended by Agency Budget Review Task Force (Credit: City of Charlottesville)

“I hope we establish clear, open procedures for the use of council priority funds for ‘pilot’ programs and initiatives,” City Councilor Kathy Galvin said.

The goal was to better align funding with the council’s priorities.

A group known as the agency budget review team reviews funding requests from nonprofit agencies. It consists of members from both Charlottesville and Albemarle County and makes recommendations for both jurisdictions.

“When you’re looking at ABRT funding, it’s a fairly narrow slice of our overall budget,” Councilor Dave Norris said. He added that the city addresses many of these issues through its own agencies and departments.

The origins of the ABRT date back to the 1980s. The group began measuring outcomes in 2001 and an objective review tool was used for the first time in 2006.

“In 2011, when the economy was bad, Albemarle County came to us after the applications were received and asked us to prioritize funding because their money was so tight,” said Gretchen Ellis, a member of the ABRT.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

The March 16 show features, soon to be regular contributors, Giles Morris & Laura Ingles (C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs (Charlottesville Tomorrow). Plus, guests in studio were on hand to talk about plans for McIntire Park East, the local Hip Hop scene, and the Tom Tom music festival.

The panel also dives in to news about the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville, the debate about chloramines in our water, and city/county budgets.

Future programs will include other local reporters working at WTJU, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, and The Daily Progress.

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors met Monday to continue its review of County Executive Thomas C. Foley’s $311.7 million budget for FY 2013. Topics included portions of the operating budget as well as the Capital Improvement Program.

Foley started the meeting with a reminder about the real estate property tax rate, a looming financial and political decision facing the board.

Foley said the budget schedule anticipates the board setting a tax rate for advertisement on Wednesday.

“There was a question that had come up about the tax rate being set,” Foley said. “It does require an affirmative vote to set the tax rate. There is no tax rate that you fall back to.”

In other words, the board cannot be deadlocked in a 3-3 vote on the tax rate and have the status quo maintained. Once advertised, the rate can only be reduced and not increased. The public hearing on the budget is scheduled for March 28. A final tax rate must be adopted by April 15.

Foley’s budget anticipates raising the tax rate from $0.742 to $0.764 per $100 of assessed property values. Foley also recommends one half cent of that increase to be dedicated to capital needs to fund the Crozet Library, a new police firing range, and a new fire station in Ivy.

The five-year CIP totals $79.8 million with the two largest portions supporting the school division (44.3 percent) and public safety (28.8 %).

March 10, 2012

Ryan Davidson

Budget and Management AnalystCity of Charlottesville

I was born in Lynchburg, VA and grew up right outside of Lynchburg in a place called Goode, VA.

When and why did you move to the Charlottesville/Albemarle area?

I moved to Charlottesville in the Spring of 2004. I was finishing up grad school, looking for an internship or job and was offered an internship with the City so I moved here from Richmond.

What neighborhood do you live in now?

I live in the County a couple of miles outside of town, not really in a neighborhood though.

Family (spouse, kids, etc)?

I have been married for almost 6 years now to my wife Robye. We have a son named Eli and a dog named Betty.

What is your alma mater and when did you graduate?

I got my Bachelors from JMU in 2000 and my Masters in Public Administration from VCU in 2004.

What were you doing before coming to the work for the county?

This is actually my first career-oriented job out of college. Prior to this job I was living in Richmond and working my way through grad school at the Home Depot. And while I was in college and even high school I worked at a country club in Lynchburg doing the grounds maintenance for the golf course.

January 12, 2012

An effort to upgrade the pool at Claudius Crozet Park to a year-round facility took a major step forward Wednesday after the Albemarle Board of Supervisors voted to reallocate $200,000 in capital funding towards improvements at the park.

Supporters of the Claudius Crozet Park wore green to support their cause

The investment, which will allow Crozet Park to allocate other funds it has raised towards a pool enclosure, had supervisors asking whether a similar proposal from the Fairview Swim and Tennis Club should also get support.

“The number one priority of Crozet Park has been an aquatics and recreation center, and they have been fundraising towards this effort since 2004,” said Bob Crickenberger, the county’s director of parks and recreation.

Claudius Crozet Park is owned by a nonprofit organization. The county has spent nearly $1 million on capital improvements at the park since 1997 and is responsible for routine maintenance.

“We took away from the staff recommendation, when we were turned down, to form a partnership with the [Piedmont Family] YMCA and to come back to the board and ask for some help down the road,” said Heidi Sonen, a member of the Claudius Crozet Park’s board of directors.

November 04, 2011

In the run up to Election Day on November 8th, Charlottesville Tomorrow will once again mail out our in-depth nonpartisan voter guide, featuring exclusive one-on-one interviews with all the candidates for Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and Charlottesville City Council. In the weeks before the election, we will feature one to two questions a day so that citizens like you can compare candidates’ answers and make an informed choice November 8th.

Charlottesville Tomorrow’s 2011 Election Center website features links to the full written transcript and audio of candidate interviews, as well as links to videos of candidate forums, copies of our 2011 voter guide, information on where to vote, and more. All the following passages are excerpts from our interviews.

COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, FIFTH IN A SERIES

In recent budgets, the board of supervisors has chosen not to raise taxes to provide additional funds for capital budget needs such that the current capital budget primarily supports only maintenance projects. How will you address capital funding needs as part of the next county budget?

Rivanna District

Ken Boyd (R) - Incumbent

The problem with capital “needs,” is who defines what these “needs” are. I fully support the needed infrastructure as well as maintenance of our capital assets. We do have to be diligent in our spending relative to the state of the economy and the impact on our citizens.

I would not support borrowing more money that we don’t have the existing capacity to pay back. Meaning that if we don’t have the operating funds to pay back the loans, then we can’t borrow the money. That’s what they do in Washington, D.C. and that’s what’s gotten them in so much trouble at this time.

Sometimes you have to kind of keep the late model car rather than buying the new one if you can’t afford to buy a new one. That should apply to government as well as in our individual lives.

Cynthia Neff (D) - Challenger

I think that the actual word from the county executive was “minimally maintains what we have.” Minimally maintains what we have. And yet if I look at the capital needs budget, it’s actually a funny document because it talks about all these grand and glorious things we’re going to do. Here’s our vision, we have walkable communities and they’re self-sustained and then we’re going to protect the rural areas, we’re going to…provide great quality of life and infrastructure. We’re going to do all this stuff, but oh by the way we don’t have any money…

If you look at the Strategic Plan, if you look at the Comprehensive Plan, you look at the Economic Vitality Plan, we continue to articulate a vision for what this place looks like, what it feels like, you know, the kind of place it is to get an education, raise children, you know, conduct a business and yet we’re not supporting those goals.

October 13, 2011

Pedestrians in Albemarle’s development areas could have more places to walk if the county’s request for Virginia Department of Transportation revenue-sharing funds is granted.

“We have come up with a list of four sidewalk projects that we feel are important to us and are identified in our master plans and consistent with goals we have in our comprehensive plan,” said David Benish, the county’s chief of planning.

The program requires a local match and is ordinarily used for road projects. Benish said VDOT intends for the program to pay for projects that can get under construction with two years of the funds being awarded.

“We just don’t have very many road projects that are in that stage of development,” Benish said. The four projects are spread through the county’s growth area.